By Gus Saltonstall

The race to replace longtime New York State Assemblymember Daniel J. O’Donnell has kicked into gear, and a collection of recent endorsements and financial backings shed light on where things stand.

For more than 20 years, O’Donnell has represented the 69th District, an area that stretches from West 80th to 125th streets, and includes large swaths of Riverside and Central Park.

In November of 2023, O’Donnell announced that he would not be seeking reelection — not that he was resigning from his position. This means that this is not a Special Election. It is a Primary Election that will take place on June 25. It has been stated and reported incorrectly on multiple occasions that the election is happening in April; not true.

There has also been some confusion between national and local elections, because early voting for the U.S. presidential election begins in New York on March 23, with Election Day on April 2. This is only for the national election, not for any New York City or state races.

The Candidates and Their Endorsements

There are four candidates currently in the running for the Assembly District 69 seat:

Carmen Quinones. Eli Northrup. Melissa Rosenberg. Micah Lasher. Click each name to go to their corresponding campaign websites.

Former Community Board 9 Chairperson Barry Weinberg previously confirmed that he would also be running for the seat, but later suspended his campaign.

You can check out West Side Rag’s previous coverage for general information about the candidates — HERE.

Here are the lists of endorsements that each candidate has received so far:

Lasher: Rep. Jerry Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, State Senator Robert Jackson, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Councilmember Gale Brewer, Comptroller Brad Lander, Councilmember Shaun Abreu, Scott Stringer, Ruth Messinger, Broadway Democrats, Three Parks Independent Democrats, and West Side Democrats.

Northrup: Assemblymember Latrice Walker, Assemblymember Anna Kelles, Assemblymember Amanda Septimo, New York Working Families Party, Sunrise Movement, Incarcerated Nation Network.

Rosenberg: NYC New Liberals, Run for Something.

Quinones: The Rag could not find any posted endorsements.

The list of endorsements reveals that Lasher, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s former policy director, has the backing of the establishment. Not only is he supported by major Manhattan and Upper West Side elected officials, but landing the trifecta of local Democratic clubs is a major boost. It may be reflective of Lasher’s longtime work in state and city government, most recently in the governor’s office, but also as Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s director of state legislative affairs, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s chief of staff, and a public-service aide to Rep. Nadler.

It is also notable that first-time candidate Northrup landed an endorsement from the Working Families Party as well as three current elected officials (even if they are not local). The Working Families Party is a left-leaning political party founded in 1998 that has been a growing force in N.Y. politics over the past decade. In recent years, it helped elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Nydia Velazquez, and others.

Rosenberg, the other first-time candidate, landed an endorsement from Run for Something, the progressive political organization dedicated to helping young candidates run in local elections. It was founded by Amanda Litman, a director of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, on the day Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017.

What Does the Money Say?

The amount of money raised by a local candidate during the campaign can be a strong predictor of how they will do when voting rolls around.

Here are the amounts raised and spent by the four candidates as of the most recent campaign finance filings available on the New York State Board of Elections database.

Micah Lasher

• Raised: $234,759
• Spent: $62,142

Eli Northrup

• Raised: $107,810
• Spent: $49,084

Melissa Rosenberg

• Raised: $40,212
• Spent: $36,187

Carmen Quinones

• Raised: $1,552
• Spent: $72.49

Earlier this month, Lasher and Northrup jubilantly announced their fundraising totals, both lauding “the grassroots strength” of their campaigns. “Grassroots” is a common election buzzword, but also a nod to New York State’s matching funds program, which becomes available based on the number of smaller local contributions made to a campaign. The fundraising conversation for the Assembly District 69 candidates changes when you factor in the state’s matching funds.

It is important to mention, though, no public matching fund payments have been made to candidates yet, with the earliest payment date for the 2024 Primary Election on May 13. Additionally, while campaigns have submitted their fundraising disclosures for matching claims, not all claims always get approved by the Board of Elections.

A total of 43 percent of Lasher’s donors were from the West Side of Manhattan, and 90 percent were from New York. His campaign received more than 160 low-dollar, in-district contributions, meaning that his campaign projects that he will be qualified for the maximum amount of public matching funds — $175,000. That means Lasher has actually raised $409,759 for his campaign, if the matching funds get approved.

Lasher can only get the $175,000 maximum matching fund from the state if his opponents meet “certain criteria to be deemed competitive” by the Board of Elections, if not, that that matching fund will drop to just 25 percent of the maximum amount.

Northrup also projects to do well with the state matching program in the most recent filing period, as 75 percent of his in-district donations were $100 or less. That means his campaign expects the state to add an additional $88,000 to his pockets. Northrup has thus raised $195,810 for his campaign, if the matching funds get approved.

On the spending side of things, the largest expenditures went to office space, political consultants, and petition materials.

You can navigate and find the details for both the contributions to candidates and their campaign expenditures on the Board of Election’s website.

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